Andy was a star baseball player in high school.  He was destined to be a division 1 college baseball star too.  He was highly recruited and received a full scholarship at one of his top school choices.  He had the brightest of futures.

School started as did baseball practice, but something was wrong.  Andy had a swelling near his tailbone accompanied by pain and a foul-smelling discharge.  He went to the school infirmary and was diagnosed with a pilonidal abscess. He was referred to a surgeon who told Andy that the only thing that could be done was a wide excisional operation and that his wound would be left open.  By then Andy’s family had done some research and found The Sternberg Clinic’s website and recommendations, but Andy’s health insurance wouldn’t permit him to see surgeons outside of their narrow network.

Andy couldn’t practice.  He kept getting recurrent infections.  He felt that there were no good options except to have the surgery, which he did.  The wound wouldn’t heal. Two months later he had to drop out of school. He lost his scholarship.  Two more months went by and his wound was no smaller despite frequent visits to a wound clinic. He was referred to another surgeon in his network who said that she could fix him with a Cleft Lift Procedure.  Unfortunately, Andy and his family found out that not everyone who claims to perform the Cleft Lift Procedure actually performs the operation correctly. He had the operation and it too failed. Six months after the second operation, Andy still had an open wound and was unable to exercise.  He was losing hope of his baseball dream and college.

Andy’s parents appealed to their insurance company and now after two poorly planned operations and tens of thousands of dollars of wasted wound care, the insurance company permitted him to consult with Dr. Sternberg.  He underwent a Cleft Lift Procedure with Dr. Sternberg and was back practicing two weeks later. A month after surgery he was back to full activity (yes, even sliding into home base!). Andy had his life back and is ready to relaunch his baseball career and begin college again.

Please don’t agree to undergo operations that don’t seem right.  Don’t let just anyone perform a Cleft Lift Procedure on you or a loved one.  Do your homework and find a surgeon well experienced in the Cleft Lift Procedure and get your life back!